Chapter 373: King vs. Esdeath
The solidified bodies of the ice cavalry slowly disintegrated, shattering into ice sand. The translucent ice crystals in the air turned into frost and icy air, gathering and surging toward Esdeath.
"..." King didn't give Esdeath any time to make a move. He seized the opportunity and mercilessly swung his katana at her, forcing Esdeath to raise her arm in defense.
Unexpectedly, the sword blade, as it made contact, transformed into countless tiny serrated teeth that caught the body of her sword.
"Mm?" In the moment of Esdeath's brief surprise, King pulled and yanked, easily knocking the Western sword out of Esdeath's hand.
King's right hand was placed beside his face, his four fingers curling one by one, with his thumb closing last. His waist, legs, and shoulders contracted as he gathered strength. The clenched fist ignited in flames and struck at Esdeath's cheek. The punch was aimed to shatter her face.
"Boom!"
The flame-wrapped fist struck against Esdeath's left palm, encased in thick ice. The ice began to melt under the heat of the flames, only for new ice to continuously form due to the freezing aura.
King's unexpected combo attack was effortlessly blocked by Esdeath.
Esdeath held King's right fist with her left palm, showing a sadistic smile. "Your ruthlessness to win is really to my liking."
"Winning is the most important thing." King calmly said, "Schools, forms, or fighting styles—they don't matter."
"That's right, that's right!" Esdeath laughed loudly, "This is what battle is about. You're going to satisfy me, aren't you?!"
The gathering freezing air surrounded Esdeath, pushing King back several meters.
Esdeath swiftly reclaimed her Western sword and raised her arm again. The overwhelming freezing air soared into the sky. Once it reached the high altitudes, the freezing air expanded rapidly, covering all of Onigashima, sweeping the island in an extreme cold.
Kaido furrowed his brows, watching the falling snowflakes. "What is this...?"
"Where are you looking?!" Eric roared as he thrust his spear forward. "Your opponent is me!"
"Hohoho..." Kaido looked down, swinging his kanabo to deflect the spear's tip. "Do you still have the strength to continue fighting?"
The slim dragon-like figure turned, and the kanabo swung in a large arc, slamming toward Eric .
"Of course!"
Clang—!
Eric swung his spear horizontally, and the weapons collided heavily once again.
Kaido took advantage of the moment, opening his mouth to gather firelight, ready to unleash his dragon breath to burn everything.
Eric glanced up, noticing the quickly gathering heat in Kaido's mouth, and without hesitation, shifted positions to dodge.
Seeing Eric move, Kaido's eyes red flashed, and a scorching fire pillar shot out, preemptively aiming for Eric 's position. The intense flame streaked through the air, chasing after him.
Just as the dragon breath was about to engulf Eric , he did not dodge. Instead, he stood firm, holding his spear horizontally, the fiery tip of the spear glowing purple. The two flames collided with a tremendous explosion.
The sky suddenly lit up in two colors, the roaring dragon breath and the burning purple flames intertwining fiercely, causing waves of intense heat to surge. Eventually, they clashed evenly and dissipated into the air.
The air still carried the strong scent of smoke, and the scorching heat burned through the nostrils and airways.
"Hohoho..." Kaido laughed excitedly. "It's been a while since I've fought this vigorously! You little brat, your weapon is quite interesting."
"..." Eric panted heavily, but did not respond. He attacked again, the sharp blade of his spear wrapped in blue-black lightning, targeting the dragon's throat.
"Hohoho..." Kaido sneered, purple lightning howling as he unleashed the "Thunderclap Eight Trigrams" once more.
The intense clash between the old and new eras surged. Both the Eight-Sided Saber and the Fire-Tipped Spear collided in the air, their Haki crashing into each other, releasing a thunderous roar. Black-red electric arcs shattered the surrounding rock, and blue-black lightning tore apart the space.
"Impressive!" Yamato, finally reaching the top of the skull, was stunned. "Someone can actually fight my old man to a standstill."
However, before Yamato could finish Speaking, Eric 's power and Haki were ultimately no match for the former emperor. He was forcefully sent flying by Kaido's Black Iron Death Stick.
"Damn old man!" At that moment, Yamato jumped out. "I want to be Kozuki Oden, I want to open the gates of Wano, I want to go to sea!"
"Still talking about that..." Kaido was visibly displeased. Not only did his own daughter admire the enemy, but she was also always going against him.
"Take this!" Yamato immediately transformed into her hybrid human-animal form, wielding a small wolf fang club in front of her, mimicking Kaido's fighting stance.
"This guy is..." Eric pushed aside the debris from his body.
"Thunderclap Eight Trigrams!"
"Thunderclap Eight Trigrams!!"
Father and daughter shouted together, and the two purple lightning bolts collided violently...
Then Yamato was knocked away by Kaido's kanabo, landing beside Eric .
After just dispatching a flying six-armed Kisame, he looked up at the sky. "So this is the Ice Queen's power? How terrifying. I'm glad I took out Sasaki early, or the entire water prison would've been frozen by her."
He then looked toward the Beast Pirates members who had taken refuge in the buildings to avoid the cold. He showed his sharp teeth. "My side dish has arrived." He then drew his Shark Muscle and charged at the Beast Pirates.
Perona, rubbing her shoulders, complained, "We're still outside!"
"Dragonwing Strike!" Wendy urged, after fanning an enemy away with a gust of wind. "Endure it, Perona! There are too many enemies now. If we hide in the Wivert, they'll come inside!"
At this moment, an air portal opened nearby, and Porche poked his head through. "Reiju nforcements have arrived."
A pink figure and Robin in a full cowboy outfit stepped lightly through the air portal.
Baby-5 looked confused. "Reiju , didn't you say you didn't want to kill people?"
"I just don't want to become a mindless weapon that follows orders. But I do want to fight alongside you all," Reiju smiled brightly. "Eric gave me the choice, and I chose to fight with you."
"After all—I'm also a member of the Dawn Pirates!"
Reiju , now wearing high-tech battle gear, bent down, releasing pink cloud-shaped poison from her lips. "Pink Poison Arrow!"
Large amounts of poison in arrow shapes pierced the enemies' chests and abdomens, leaving deep purple marks at the wound sites. The enemies collapsed to the ground in intense pain.
Robin crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Spinning Flower, Claw!"
Several arms grew around the shoulders of nearby Beast Pirates members, twisting and Breaking their necks. "I need to view all the true history texts and learn about the blank century. Only the Dawn Pirates can protect me."
"How frank..." Porche mumbled under his breath before Speaking up. "I'll go bring the other members over." The air portal closed after his words.
Genos , Gin , and Rant, who were facing off against True Fighters, were battered and out of breath, backing into a small circle, back to back.
Genos calmly asked, "Can we keep fighting?"
"Of course!" Gin replied confidently. "I feel like I never run out of strength!"
Rant silently nodded.
"Three of you, and you think you can do anything?" The surrounding Beast Pirates laughed loudly.
Genos didn't respond to the mockery, firing his blazing cannon to burn down the enemies before him.
Gin swung his cane, aiming at the enemies' bodies, the iron ball at the top smashing into one enemy's abdomen. The opponent curled up in pain, losing consciousness from the heavy blow.
"Damn!" Another enemy reached out his right arm, aiming his silver sharp blade at Gin 's back.
"!" Gin sensed the danger, his tail extending from his waist to coil around the enemy's legs.
"Wh...?" The enemy was caught off guard as Gin 's dragon-like shoulders bulged, and with a twist, the long tail swung and launched the enemy through the air.
Rant gathered his strength in his right arm, taking a stable stance, and with all his might, he threw a punch into the enemy's body. "Shark Fang Straight Punch!"
...
"..." King's body ignited once more.
Esdeath slowly said, "I've noticed, when your flames are extinguished, your speed increases significantly, but your defense drops."
"Is this the ability of the Lunaria?"
"..." King didn't answer, his gaze sweeping over the wounds on his body, as the flames melted away the ice forming on him.
The tall King suddenly transformed into a toothless dragon, soaring through the skies.
Esdeath shouted, "Are you running away?!"
"Impossible." The toothless dragon, wrapped in flames, charged at Esdeath, its black wings folding, and its tall, straight body turned into a sword-like shape, its sharp beak aiming directly at her.
"Clang!"
Esdeath blocked with her sword, and her body slid back several meters from the powerful impact. "You only increased your strength? Try using all your moves!"
Not hitting once, King flew up again, spiraling in the air, extending his right hand to grab the crown ornament, then pulling hard.
"?" Esdeath was surprised. "So pulling the crown of the toothless dragon transforms into this strange structure?"
"Shū" King's voice became unclear due to excessive transformation. "Self-Respect Royal!"
As he released his right hand, the stored energy instantly transformed into a powerful shockwave, directly crashing into Esdeath's rooftop.
Esdeath kicked off to dodge, and the entire building shattered from King's attack.
"This is an interesting move!" Esdeath smiled. "Did you come up with this technique? Quite interesting!"
"In ancient times, the toothless dragon's hunting method was just like this!"
"..." Esdeath, stunned by the overly bizarre answer, couldn't speak.
"I'll still kill you!" Esdeath pressed her hands forward and clapped them together. "White Ice Shards!"
Countless ice spikes formed in the air, sending a chilling wind as they rushed towards King's burning body.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
King spread his wings, protecting his body, blocking all the ice-sharp spears.
In the air, King's body shifted, the toothless dragon returning to human form, with his katana now in hand, also ablaze with fierce flames.
King unleashed his Haki to its fullest, accelerating with gravity to appear before Esdeath, slashing down at her from above.
"Clang!"
Ice and flames intertwined as the katana and western sword clashed, their two forces colliding, causing a thunderous roar in the sky.
In the midst of the stalemate, King's eyes narrowed, his claws, now in his beast form, wrapped with Haki and blazing flames, struck like lightning toward Esdeath.
Clang—!
The kick landed on Esdeath's left arm, covered in ice, and the violent impact transmitted through her arm to her body. However, Esdeath's body remained as steady as a rock, unshaken.
"I already knew you wouldn't just rely on weapon attacks, how could I not be prepared?" Esdeath smiled knowingly. "And thank you for your help; now I can see the 'future!'"
"What?" King froze.
Esdeath's Observation Haki—Nine Stars!
"The future!" Esdeath gazed at King. "Ready to raise your right leg and kick me?"
Before Esdeath finished Speaking, King raised his flaming right leg and kicked toward her.
Esdeath, already prepared, blocked with her foot, her heel wrapped in freezing air, and she intercepted the half-hearted kick mid-air.
"..." King's gaze grew serious, ready for the next attack.
"Are you going to turn into a beast and use Self-Respect Royal now?" Esdeath smiled. "I'll be ready for you this time."
King stopped his left claw from grabbing the crown ornament. "..."
"You shouldn't hesitate!" Esdeath raised her leg and swept it forward, sending a massive ice spike flying toward King. The area in her path instantly froze.
"Boom!"
The sharp ice spikes continuously pierced toward King, sending him flying into the air, where he once again transformed into the toothless dragon.
"So hard." Esdeath smiled slightly, gazing at the blood holes on King's body. "But my ice can indeed hurt you."
"Double Emperor in the Blade!" King swung his wings, firing fireballs from the flames on his back like a machine gun, aiming at Esdeath.
"Though you can dodge it..." Esdeath squinted. "I'll send it all back to you!"
Esdeath either slashed, hacked, or cut, using her Western sword like a baseball bat, knocking the fireballs flying back at King.
King ignored the fireballs targeting him, pushing his speed to the limit, diving toward Esdeath with his wings spread for a fierce strike. "Dan Bow Emperor!"
"Too slow!" Esdeath crouched to dodge, her Western sword flashing with cold light as she thrust it forward.
King: "..."
A slash from head to abdomen cleaved through King's body, splitting the mask on his face in half.
"Black wings, white hair, brown skin." A Beast Pirate muttered. "If we report this to the government, we can get 100 million berries..."
"Shut up." Esdeath glared at the muttering pirate, her Conqueror's Haki spreading, and except for King and Esdeath, no one else stood.
"Do you want to become a king?" King turned to face Esdeath.
"King?" Esdeath denied his question. "I only want to stand at the top of the world with Eric ."
"I see..." King swung his sword fiercely, wrapping the katana in flame, scorching the nearby unconscious pirate. The pirates screamed, rolled, and wailed in the flames, eventually falling silent, the smell of charred meat filling the air.
"You shouldn't treat your subordinates like this." Esdeath frowned. "While their weakness is their problem, they shouldn't have to die at the hands of their own boss."
"Now, tell me, what is the Lunaria race really?"
"..." King transformed into a toothless dragon, grinding his teeth. "What difference does it make, those who are going to die soon, what can knowing mean?"
(END CHAPTER)
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